State approves Westchester power experiment

A group of energy advocates in Westchester scored a significant victory Thursday when the state Public Service Commission gave the green light for a contested plan to let towns and cities in the downstate county purchase their own power, bypassing a role utilities have played for decades.

Community Choice Aggregation, or C.C.A., is a system whereby municipalities, either by referendum or legislation, determine where their electricity will come from and who will generate it. It gives residents and small businesses a level of clout they would not have on their own, allowing them to negotiate competitive prices from independent energy service companies.

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Sustainable Westchester—a group of energy advocates, residents and municipal leaders—petitioned the P.S.C. in December to allow them to implement a C.C.A. program in the county, which is served by Con Edison.

On Thursday, the P.S.C. gave the go-ahead.

"It's obviously an area we are exploring and we are going to work on it," commission chair Audrey Zibleman said. "I look forward to continuing to see this project develop."

Mike Gordon, one of Sustainable Westchester's leaders, said he was overjoyed.

"We're completely psyched," he said. "It's a completely fresh breath of air coming out of this administration."

Gordon and his group will now work with mayors, town councils and residents to figure out how to begin implementing the programs. It's unclear which town will be the first but supervisors and mayors from Bedford, New Rochelle, Yonkers and White Plains all are on Sustainable Westchester's board, so they are likely to be the first to take up the mantle.

It is also uncertain how residents will participate. Town councils could simply pass legislation or they could hold referenda for residents to weigh in.

But the fact the P.S.C will allow the program at all marks a significant change in how people will interact with their power sources. Towns can choose to buy from energy service companies with an eye toward price, clean power or perhaps both.

Residents will also have the option to not participate and continue buying through the utility.

Con Edison urged the P.S.C. to limit the program to one town, but in a statement issued Thursday Zibelman said the project was "innovative" and said it "furthers the Governor’s strategic R.E.V. plan by supporting communities that desire to find ways to negotiate with third-party energy providers to meet their community’s energy supply needs and to get the best price possible.”

While some growing pains are likely, Gordon said the program could serve as a model for the rest of the state.

"The commission is really creating extraordinary value for the state and for consumers," he said.